Help with possible Aspergers?

[ksy]

Hello…I am new, and reaching out to those of you who obviously have experience with Aspergers...sorry for the length of this, but i have a full description of everything I can think of about my little boy, as I hope it helps..I have simply had too many conflicting opinions. If someone could take the time to read about him, and give me their feelings, I would be so appreciative, as I have been overwhelmed (literally) with anxiety...

 

My son, who is 3 years, 4 months, seems so spectacular to me.

 

The main “red flag” for AS is the fact he can read (probably like a 5- year old, maybe a bit higher), and seems to still parallel play in nursery school. Our Pediatrician, without asking much details, suggested we read about AS when she saw him read a sign in her office, and asked us to find out about nursery school. (Her assessment, otherwise, was nil, so her opinion means nothing here). He had been there for about 5-6 months, and we were surprised he stood out as not really talking to the other kids. There were no other obvious behavior issues, but simply lack of socializing. He has a 1.5 year old brother, who is just coming to life language –wise, and he seems to engage him, but it’s hard to at how meaningful given their differences. He did do some baby talking for a while, but this is passing now, but he does it still, but can correct if asked to.He loves socializing with us, and family or most adults, and seems enamored with some kids older than himself. But I have been told that can be misleading with AS.

So, naturally, I have been obsessing about looking back, analyzing him, etc, and am lost as to when/if certain things are red flags. Here are some things I have concerns about:

Stims? At 2 (to late 2 years old), he was obsessed about playing with the steering wheel at the park, and would choose this first. He would really love it, make an occasional face while doing it, maybe a visual stim here and there ( a grimace with eyes closed, maybe partially open), but hard to say, and maybe play for 10 minutes or more, than move on, and maybe come back later. He loved steering wheels in general, noticing them on cars (including toys, especially when he was first getting into them), but never did any other repetitive spinning of objects, including at home. It seemed isolated from a repetitive spinning point of view.

With his new dinky cars, he loved to run them, one by one of the edge of the couch, and crash them onto the floor, maybe the wall. This eventually stopped, but was his favorite/main way of playing with them for some time. He has never lined things up, stacked obsessively, etc.

Currently, he likes to jump up and down 2-3 times, intermittently (for example, when playing, he will do some activity, maybe build a Lego thing, then stand up, jump a few times and go back to it; or maybe when bored, and in the kitchen with us, and kind of moving around doing things). He has never done this for a prolonged period, and it is not too often, but is daily, and more when he is excited or has some energy to burn.

 

Finally, he will occasionally, especially in afternoon, seem to want to run up and down the hall, from kitchen to front door, or in basement back and forth, maybe 5-10 times. He seems distractible when doing it, but likes to do it. I t seems he needs to just burn a little energy, but I am not totally sure. From my reading, I am having a hard time understanding when something is a “stim” or not. He has never flapped hands, twirled, used his hands in a funny way, verbally stimmed, etc. Just the above behaviors. He does like to "skip" sometimes when he runs.

 

His development seemed normal to us, but being first time parents, there has been little reference until the little brother came along, and he himself is just accelerating, trying to do everything his big bro does. Always had good eye contact, smiled early, babbled early,, responded to us, loved (and still loves) hugs and cuddling. He spoke words by one, progressed well, and now speaks in sentences which seem normal for his age. Sometimes a little disjointed in his wording, but he corrects himself quickly. He could count early, to 20 in his mid-2s, but we did a lot of counting especially going up stairs (we have a lot of them). He knew his ABCs and numbers early, but, again, saw a lot of them. He picked up reading somewhere at about 2.5, but I don’t know if that is precocious, or was skewed by my persistent pointing out of every word, with sounding, I read to him, many books a day, from about 5 months and on. (I was determined to make him a good reader!) He did seem to memorizes the names of a lot (maybe 25) of his dinky cars right away (like Honda civic, Acura, BMW, etc), I think maybe by sound at first, but he was able to eventually read the names on the bottom. He loves cars, but never obsesses about them. He has tons of books, loves reading together, but will chose toys over them , likes if we read to him more than reading himself, and seems to follow the pictures/gist of the story well. But if you ask him, and push him, he can read those words and sentences. The only odd language thing we notice is he will sometimes repeat a question a few times in a row (2-3), even if answered, although not on any repetitive topics. He does ask questions a lot, and often will do that instead of referring to an observation directly (for example, ask “What does he have on his head?” instead of just saying what is on the persons head). So, is this repetitive questioning? There has been no echolalia, or strange manner of speaking that I can tell. He sings some songs, and at one point seemed to pick up nursery rhymes rather quickly, but we didn’t hear about them for long. He knew the planets, in order, quickly, mainly because we started reading a book about them, and he was pretty interested in them for a while, but only really knew their names, order and a brief detail I taught him about each (I.e. Venus is brightest, etc), but he hasn’t talked about them since we stopped talking about them . (I mention this only because I keep seeing that damn astronomy thing come up as an obsession in so many references!)

He walked at 11 months, runs well, climbs and jumps well, can throw a ball, catch ok (not great);still struggles with a tricycle, but we haven’t pushed him much on it since age 3 (and its winter now). . He can do pretty big puzzles now. He does not like drawing too much, and resists much attempts at learning to draw/write (a poor circle now, at best). Painting is a bit OK for him, not too long though.Potty training still a struggle, but are just pushing him over last few months, as he never seemed interested. No tantrums (the odd, typical one for certain situations, wants, etc., and nothing odd or in public), routine obsessions (although what kid doesn’t have routines every day?). He’s fine in crowds, groups, noisy places. Plays alone happily, and seems to have some imaginary play. Has sometimes struggled to stay still in group sing- alongs, but sometimes can. Briefly didn’t like the vacuum, or my drill (at 2-2.5), but no overly weird reaction, and tolerates now. He is scared of dogs (not sure why, although my dad had a big dog which overwhelmed him when he was just 2), but no other big fears.

 

So, sorry for the length, but I have been in a panic. It all seems to boil down to poor socializing, advanced reading, some repetitive behaviors, of which I have no idea how significant they are, and poor drawing (both ability and desire). ANY opinion you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

 

Ksy

[mom2ck]

My son who is dx Aspergers had some of the things you mentioned. His dx didn't come until he was almost 8 after being dx as ADHD, tics disorder, OCD, and later PDD. One main thing the people at The Autism Program said was a flag was parallel play. Another is eye contact and seems like he doesn't hear when being talked to. When Cade was little, I thought he was doing great because he said big words at a young age (2). He seemed to play pretty well with other kids and didn't get into arguments. But upon further review, it was parallel play with his own things. As he got to 1st grade it was all about Star Wars and has remained that. But, when little it was trains and then lego's. My son never makes eye contact when speaking to someone. When he was 4 his daycare provider said she would say his name 3 or 4 times and he wouldn't respond until she went and touched him or took away whatever he was doing. She also commented on how he seemed to walk on his toes at times. My son has many sensory issues and also tics. Our first notice of tics came at 5 with an arm movement, but found he also did a rocking and swaying when he was 4 in pre-k. There may have been others earlier, but we didn't notice them. With him, he potty trained late at 2 1/2. He also liked having books read to him, but now reads at a 4th grade level when he is only in 2nd grade. He also liked hugs and as a new mom I loved them too. I just thought he was a cuddly kid. He also is unaware of personal space and always seems to be right beside someone or will navigate to them. I also thought he did well as he ran and played on things. But, riding a tricycle/bike was difficult for him. He didn't learn until he was almost 8 to ride a bike and still not good. He could also throw a ball and swing a bat. But catching a ball is a different story. He still can't do it. My son loves to draw, but printing is aweful. He just recently learned cursive writing and seems to do better with it. From all of our tests and treatments, we have found his motor skills are delayed and he has a problem with hand strength as well as other body awareness/alignment.

 

Anyway, this is just to give you a background of someone who is dx AS. If it is something you are concerned about and apparently has been brought to your attention, get it checked out. I so wish we would have known he was doing these things in pre-k as we could have started the road much sooner.

[Pathways]

Ksy,

As your child is still young, some of the more obvious coping mechanisms that children with Asperger's develop may not have taken root yet (if he is in fact on the Autism Spectrum). I am a consultant specializing in Asperger's and Autism, certified in 2 interventions that have significantly improved the quality of life for children with various developmental challenges (HANDLE and Relationship Development Intervention).

 

I would be interested to know if your son does the following:

-points things out to you to share, then checks back with you nonverbally (this is key)

-notices your nonverbal reactions in the midst of interaction - for example, if you looked bored, or had no emotion on your face, how long would your son continue the activity before he noticed?

 

Do you find yourself asking him a lot of questions to keep the interaction going? This is often an unintentional overcompensation amongst caregivers/adults when interacting with children on the autism spectrum. Because the child is often not responding or initiating at a 'normal' pace, we compensate by prompting, asking more questions than we would to a typical child. As time goes on, and demands increase, children with ASD can experience more anxiety which leads to coping mechanisms like looking for 'sameness', predictability (asking caregivers questions to things they already know the answer to), and repetitive activities or thinking. Children who are happy and smiling sometimes can be mistaken for actually sharing facial expressions with others - so that is why it's important to test out the emotional feedback system by interacting with the child and deliberately communicating nonverbally to see if they notice. Language can be very deceiving, especially when we adults don't realize how much work we are doing to keep the interaction flowing.

 

If you are concerned with his social abilities, it might be a good idea to limit the exposure to activities he can create static thinking from - such as books. The website www.rdiconnect.com has some information about the type of thinking that is indicative of Autism/Asperger's Syndrome, and might help you get clarity on what you are seeing with your son. Most autism professionals believe speech and behavior are the issue - there are actually cognitive differences in children with ASD and very high-functioning children can be missed early on. Some people with Asperger's don't receive a diagnosis until late teens or adulthood.

 

I hope this helps!

April Choulat

 

P.S. If your son does end up with a formal diagnosis, don't let that sway your opinion of him - he IS spectacular! And contrary to some of the pessimistic feedback parents get from diagnosticians, innovative therapies are making a huge difference in the lives of people with ASD. Good luck:)

[peglem]

Thank you Pathways, where do you practice?